Turkey lifts headscarf ban for its policewomen

ISTANBUL (AP) — It is official: Turkey's female police officers will be able to wear headscarves as part of their uniform.

The ruling published by the government's official gazette this weekend says policewomen can wear headscarves under their caps or berets on condition they be the same color as the uniform and without a pattern.

The ban on wearing headscarves in public services was introduced after the 1980 coup. Turkish secularists consider the garment a symbol of religious conservatism in the officially secular state.

The ruling pro-Islamist Justice and Development Party has long been urging the removal of the restriction. The headscarf ban in Turkey's universities was lifted in 2010 and in civil services in 2013, except for the police, military and judiciary.